Striking phone workers were expected to be back on the job in New York today after their unions reached agreement on a three-year contract with Verizon Communications.

The tentative accord with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and one of two bargaining units for the Communications Workers of America effectively ends a two-week strike that affected millions of phone users.

The bargaining units represent 50,000 workers in New York and New England.

Another 35,000 employees in New Jersey and other mid-Atlantic states are represented by a second CWA unit, which was continuing negotiations and was close to a deal last night.

Strikers disbanded the picket line outside Verizon headquarters in Midtown after getting word of the agreement last night.

“The locals in New York and New England are telling the workers to report for work,” CWA spokeswoman Candice Johnson said. “If there’s no agreement, the workers in the other states will remain on strike.”

Verizon, which was created from the merger of Bell Atlantic and GTE, said the deal calls for a 12-percent salary hike over three years and boosted benefits.

On the job-security front, Verizon agreed it would not move more than 1 percent of the jobs in any union local to another area per year, union officials said.

Verizon also agreed to let non-union workers indicate their desire to unionize by signing a card – instead of a secret-ballot election.

“The proposed agreement gives Verizon the flexibility we need to thrive in a highly competitive national marketplace,” said Lawrence T. Babbio Jr., vice chairman and president of Verizon.